Zohran Mamdani is walking into City Hall carrying more than a mandate. He’s carrying the hopes of an entire political movement.

Which is why some progressives were disappointed this week after certain early moves — from declining to back a primary challenge to Hakeem Jeffries, to keeping on NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, to meeting with Donald Trump — were seen as gestures toward moderation.

But the truth is much simpler: he’s doing what any incoming mayor of the most complex city in America must do — prepare to govern.

The stakes are enormous. The perceived success or failure of the entire progressive movement now rests, in no small part, on whether Mamdani can deliver results.

And that requires political capital. Political capital doesn’t come from blowing up the coalition he needs in Albany and on the Council before he even takes office.

Progressives are right to be watchful. The left has been burned before. And Mamdani’s historic election was celebrated precisely because voters saw in him the clearest chance yet to show America that left-wing governance can work at scale.

But throughout his short political career, Mamdani has earned the trust of New Yorkers. And he hasn’t given New Yorkers any reason to doubt the strategy behind his early decicisions.

The loudest backlash has come from his opposition to the NYC-DSA endorsing Chi Ossé’s primary challenge against Hakeem Jeffries. Many want Jeffries gone, and for good reason.

But Jeffries is wildly popular in his district. He is the second-highest-ranking Democrat in the country. Losing a high-profile challenge against him wouldn’t weaken Jeffries — it would weaken the left. It would hand the establishment a victory they would weaponize immediately against Mamdani’s agenda.

And crucially: Mamdani did not run to topple Jeffries. He ran to make New York City affordable and livable again. He can’t do that if he wastes his political capital before he even earns any.

Neither Bernie nor AOC endorsed Mamdani when he was polling at 1%. They waited until he had built real traction. That wasn’t betrayal. It was sequencing. It’s the same logic Mamdani is applying now.

Keeping Jessica Tisch as police commissioner was another shock to many on the left. It doesn’t feel “revolutionary.” But New York’s police commissioner is not a symbolic post. Keeping someone who has already delivered falling crime and retains broad institutional respect buys Mamdani something he urgently needs: stability.

He didn’t run on “blow it all up.” He ran on affordability, housing, and rebuilding public services. None of that gets off the ground if his first act in office is to trigger an institutional war.

And yes, Mamdani will meet with Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Trump announced the meeting by calling him a “Communist” and putting his middle name in quotes for some reason (racism).

But Mamdani requested the meeting — and he was right to. New York mayors don’t get to pick their president. Trump has already threatened the city’s funding. To ignore him would not be a show of principle — it would be malpractice.

The early signs of where Mamdani is willing to push are worth noting.

His call to boycott Starbucks — one of the largest and most ubiquitous companies in New York — is something incoming mayors simply don’t do, and was a clear show of solidarity with workers.

And naming Lina Khan, one of the country’s most aggressive antitrust thinkers, to co-chair his transition signaled that corporate power won’t be calling the shots in his administration.

This is what governing leftism looks like — knowing when to push, and when to build.

This movement cannot hinge on one endorsement. It cannot rely on one man to carry every progressive challenger. Nor should it.

There is already an entire wave of left candidates building their own lanes — Rae Huang, Cameron Caskey, Kat Abaguzaleh, and others.

Zohran Mamdani was elected to govern New York City, not to shepherd every primary in the country at his own peril.

If Mamdani succeeds in New York, the national movement has proof of concept. If he fails, the establishment will use it to bury progressive governance for a generation.

Delivering results requires coalition-building, not self-isolation. It requires letting him build an administration, stabilize city government, negotiate with power players, and earn the leverage he will need for the fights to come.

Mamdani is not selling out. He is choosing his battles. He is sequencing his fights in a way that actually makes winning possible.

This is not the left going soft. It is the left growing up.

The reality is this: The movement cannot afford for Mamdani to fail. He knows it. His critics know it. His supporters know it.

And early decisions that seem disappointing at first glance may well be the exact choices that allow him to deliver on the big promises that one million New Yorkers voted for.

Hold him accountable. Challenge him. Push him.

But first, give him the space to build the foundation he needs. Let him cook.